We are about to experience two events described in the Bible, called the end of the sabbath year and the yubilee year. Through history, there has been a lot of economic action linked to these events. Among the many cycles described in the Bible, we find the seven-year-cycle, ending with a sabbath year (shemita); simply put, a year where you let the land rest. For every seventh cycle of shemita, it tells of a yubilee-year; a kind of a restart where, among other things, debts are to be erased. A detail, but relevant right now, as the US is about to erase student debt.
The last sabbath year was in 2014-2015 and the last yubilee-year was in 1972-1973. We’re now less than a month away from the end of the current shemita as well as the current yubilee-year.
Historical events
On January 6th, I published my Predictions for 2022, where I wrote about a financial crisis, much worse than the one in 2008. This was before the war in Ukraine and the exponential price growth of several crucial commodities, which are all said to be consequences of the war. Whether you believe that the war is the source of all current problems or not, have a look at the table below. It’s a short list of events that have corresponded with the shemita since 1900:
- 1901-1902 – 46% of the US stock market value wiped out.
- 1916-1917 – 40% of the US stock market value wiped out. German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman Empires collapsed. Britain, the world’s greatest empire was almost bankrupt.
- 1930-1931 – 86% of the US stock market value wiped out in the worst financial crisis in modern history; The Great Depression.
- 1937-1938 – 50% of the US stock market value wiped out. Global recession.
- 1944-1945 – End of German Reich and Britain’s hold on territories. Establishment of America as the world’s super power. The Bretton Woods Conference, giving the US dollar status as global reserve currency.
- 1965-1966 – 23% of the US stock market value wiped out.
- 1972-1973 – 48% of the US stock market value wiped out. Global recession. U.S. lost its first war; Vietnam.
- 1979-1980 – Global recession.
- 1986-1987 – 33% of the US stock market value wiped out.
- 1993-1994 – Bond market crash.
- 2000-2001 – 37% of the US stock market value wiped out. 9/11 and Global recession. The Dot Com bubble.
- 2007-2008 – 50% of the US stock market value wiped out. Global recession. The financial crisis.
- 2014-2015 — 70% of the oil price wiped out.
The current sabbath year ends on September 26th, but so what? Maybe nothing goes down on that day. After all, it’s just a day like any other day. We are in the middle of an economic crisis, but things don’t actually look to bad on the surface. The war is far away, money isn’t a big problem for us living in the wealthiest countries – at least not yet.
The Bible is absolutely a book of great importance, at least for lots of religious people. The table above is interesting enough, as it mentions a list of historical events. What might be more insteresting – at least for some – is trying to understand how our economic system is constructed and how it works. Yes, it’s a construction and as for all constructions affecting us, it might be a smart ting having a look at it in order to understand it.
It seems very difficult though. Economy is like an unfathomable thing. The easiest thing is to follow the crowd or ask a financial advisor. Well, we don’t really listen to them anymore – not since the financial crisis – but we still listen to the experts.
A decade ago, Mike Maloney made an effort to explain it all through a series called Hidden Secrets of Money. I higly recommend it and you’ll find links to all ten episodes below. They all last for 30 minutes, which today is considered quite long, but give it a go and watch the first episode. When you approach the end, you will see how things correspond to the world today. Personally, this series was an eye-opener.
Hidden Secrets of Money:
- Episode 1: Money vs Currency
- Episode 2: Seven Stages Of Empire
- Episode 3: The Timeline Shows The Death of The US Dollar As World Reserve
- Episode 4: The Biggest Scam In The History Of Mankind
- Episode 5: Where Does Money Come From?
- Episode 6: The Rollercoaster Crash – Deflation FIRST
- Episode 7: Velocity & The Money Illusion
- Episode 8: From Bitcoin To Hedera Hashgraph
- Episode 9: Fall Of Empires: Rome vs USA
- Episode 10: American Bread & Circus
What to do now, before the end of shemita
I don’t know. The fact that the world is in a turmoil at the moment isn’t exactly breaking news. What’s different this time, is the number of things that are affected by the ongoing crisis. Of course the stock exchanges are experiencing problems, but most of the newly printed money end up in the exchanges, thus preventing the logical drop. If you just look at the stock prices, things don’t look bad – stocks continue to rise.
OK, we get poorer, but we don’t really notice. The previous salary increase was higher than the last one, so we’re kind of happy. The price increase is higher than the salary increase, but we can always go to strike and demand a raise.
From my perspective, it’s all quite weird. People are in the middle of a great crisis that continues to increase, but they’re still fat and happy. No worries, just going about their lives as before. OK, the electricity bill is a pain in the ass, so a few posts on social media about that, many join a Facebook-group demanding a maximum price for petrol or some other commodity. Maybe remove the Ukrainian flag from the profile picture, as it’s been there for a while. Same same and no big change.
These times makes it possible to accumulate wealth, improve your situation. To do so, you just have to make better decisions than most others. Decisions are often based on knowledge, so increasing your knowledge is a great thing. It’s boring and time consuming, but the very episodes mentioned above may make it less boring.
Mike Maloney is a smart guy, but he’s just a man with a view – just take a look on his favourite crypto, Hedera Hashgraph (episode 8). It doesn’t matter if he’s right or wrong, what matters is you and your view of things. His Hidden Secrets of Money is a great input to your own thought process.
Well, that was my two satoshis on the upcoming shemita..
En tanke om “September 26th 2022 and the end of shemita (the sabbath year)”